Call your mom for a ride home from a pay phone. Even better, wait in line to call your mom.

Call your mom for a ride home from a pay phone. Even better, wait in line to call your mom.

Photo: Jupiterimages, Jupiter Images / Getty

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Rent a VHS tape at your local video store.

Rent a VHS tape at your local video store.

Photo: Lyn Alweis, Lyn Alweis / Getty Images

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Read a newspaper in print. The "connected" generation will get their news and/or digital newspapers via cellphone, tablet and whatever technology comes next.

Read a newspaper in print. The "connected" generation will get their news and/or digital newspapers via cellphone, tablet and whatever technology comes next.

Photo: Getty

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Stick a shiny copper penny in a bubble-gum machine.

Stick a shiny copper penny in a bubble-gum machine.

Photo: Peter Keegan, Peter Keegan / Getty Images

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Eat all the Halloween candy. Today's parents often pay their kids to toss their pile of sweets.

Eat all the Halloween candy. Today's parents often pay their kids to toss their pile of sweets.

Photo: Jupiterimages, Jupiterimages / Getty Images

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Shoot marbles. The beloved game is basically dead.

Shoot marbles. The beloved game is basically dead.

Photo: SuperStock, Inc., Super Stock / Getty Images

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Write cursive. Penmanship is no longer emphasized in elementary schools. Why bother? Most kids are typing on their computers by third or fourth grade.

Write cursive. Penmanship is no longer emphasized in elementary schools. Why bother? Most kids are typing on their computers by third or fourth grade.

Photo: SuperStock, Inc., SuperStock / Getty

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Make a mix tape for your high school crush.

Make a mix tape for your high school crush.

Photo: Laura Rounds / Getty Images

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Use an encyclopedia as a reference for your report. With Wikipedia, these books are basically worthless.

Use an encyclopedia as a reference for your report. With Wikipedia, these books are basically worthless.

Photo: David Muir, David Muir / Getty Images

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Type up a report on a typewriter.

Type up a report on a typewriter.

Photo: Darrin Klimek, Darrin Klimek / Getty Images

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Dial a number on a rotary phone.

Dial a number on a rotary phone.

Photo: Getty

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Play in the street.

Play in the street.

Photo: Getty

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Drink water from a garden hose. Lead, BPA...the list of harmful chemicals in these hoses goes on and on.

Drink water from a garden hose. Lead, BPA...the list of harmful chemicals in these hoses goes on and on.

Photo: KidStock, Getty Images/Blend Images

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Take a Scantron test. Yes, the fill-in-the-bubbles tests that can only be taken with a No. 2 pencil still exist but more and more schools are having kids take tests on computers.

Take a Scantron test. Yes, the fill-in-the-bubbles tests that can only be taken with a No. 2 pencil still exist but more and more schools are having kids take tests on computers.

Photo: Ryan Balderas, Ryan Balderas / Getty Images

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Take photos with a film camera.

Take photos with a film camera.

Photo: Cavan Images, Cavan Images / Getty Images

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Fall asleep in the trunk of a station wagon. We support the strict seat-belt laws but they make it tough for kids to recline and doze off in the car.

Fall asleep in the trunk of a station wagon. We support the strict seat-belt laws but they make it tough for kids to recline and doze off in the car.

Photo: Steve Mason, Steve Mason / Getty Images

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Roam the neighborhood with a pack of wild kids.

Roam the neighborhood with a pack of wild kids.

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Ride a bike without a helmet and do other dangerous things on your bike. (Note: We're glad kids are now wearing helmets. This is a good step forward.)

Ride a bike without a helmet and do other dangerous things on your bike. (Note: We're glad kids are now wearing helmets. This is a good step forward.)

Photo: Preappy, Getty Images/Flickr RF

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Play darts in the basement.

Play darts in the basement.

Photo: Catherine Ledner, Getty Images

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Listen to music on a record player. And we should probably add, listen to music on a cassette tape.

Listen to music on a record player. And we should probably add, listen to music on a cassette tape.

Photo: Getty

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Play on dangerous playground equipment. We don't miss the broken legs and arms but the old-school equipment was so much fun.

Play on dangerous playground equipment. We don't miss the broken legs and arms but the old-school equipment was so much fun.

Photo: Nick David, Nick David / Getty Images

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Things you did that your kids will never do

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You rode around the neighborhood on your bike with a pack of kids. Not an adult in sight. No cell phone in your pocket. If you needed to call Mom, you found a pay phone or hopped into a friend's house and dialed on a rotary phone.

After a whirl around the neighborhood, a game of kickball in the street and a climb up your neighbor's tree, you took a swig from the lead-laced hose in your front yard and ran into the house where your entire family sat around the table for dinner.

Those were the good old days? The freedom and independence kids enjoyed were certainly exceptional. The time spent outside running around was another huge plus. There were downsides. Kids didn't wear bike helmets or seat belts. We didn't know about the lead in the hoses (though we all drank from them and seemed to turn out OK).

No matter, today's kids are growing up in a different world filled with Minecraft, text messages and helicopter parents. There are many things from our bygone childhoods—good and bad—that they will never experience.